The Apprentice 2011

[Perdita]

Well most six year olds would be wrong! Europe yes, but not England. Still, as they are only six, I'll forgive them!!!

Awww, you are very kind, Sir

[alan45]

THE Apprentice finalists line up one last time as they prepare to do battle to become Lord Sugar's business partner.

Hopefuls Tom Pellereau, Helen Milligan, Susan Ma and "Jedi" Jim Eastwood go head to head tomorrow.
Up for grabs is £250,000 of Lord Sugar's cash, plus his advice on building a business.
But before then they face a series of job interviews from hell.
They will be grilled by four of Amstrad boss Lord Sugar's no-nonsense sidekicks.
Among those putting the quartet's business proposals through the mill will be Margaret Mountford - formerly Lord Sugar's aide on the BBC1 show.
Lord Sugar said: "Once my trusted colleagues get them under the microscope I have no doubt that flaws will be uncovered, and then we will see who truly warrants my investment."
Before then the foursome met up at the London Studios on the South Bank to enjoy the sun and prepare themselves. The final is screened at 9pm on BBC1.


Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz1SEYaWcA0

[Katy]

I cannot wait till tonight for the final!

[JustJodi]

results were what I expected

[Perdita]

Tom Pellereau has been crowned the winner of The Apprentice 2011.

The 31-year-old inventor was chosen by Lord Sugar to become his new business partner over Helen Milligan, while rival finalists Jim Eastwood and Susan Ma were fired earlier tonight after interviews with the entrepreneur's trusted colleagues Claude Littner, Margaret Mountford, Mike Soutar and Matthew Riley.

Sugar will now provide a £250,000 investment into Pellereau's business, which aims to reduce the financial and personal costs of employee back pain through specialist chairs.

In the final boardroom, Lord Sugar brushed off concerns from his advisors regarding Pellereau's "lack of focus" and "flawed" plan to offer posture checks to office workers, instead noting the potential in his invention of a chair to combat back pain.

"I would give up and emigrate if someone said to me now, 'What you've got to do is allow all your employees to have a desk chair check'," Sugar stated.

"Maybe there is some legs in offering the chair. [There is] some real USP, some real special reason as to why people buy it.

"Wasting time about going into companies and testing employees out, that ain't gonna work. The chair might work."

He added: "Tom, you've got the experience in actually making stuff, selling stuff, inventing stuff. The current business idea needs a lot of tweaking."

However, Sugar also shared his "disappointment" with Milligan's brainchild of an assistant service for the mass market, which was at odds with her background in the food and retail industry.

"Helen, you have been exceptional in that you've won so many tasks and understood the plot and shone through," he praised. "[But] you can see that I was not too happy with your business plan idea."

Despite considering Milligan's last-minute pitch of a bakery business, Sugar finally opted to go into partnership with Pellereau after being won over by his entrepreneurial spirit, creativity and past success at getting products into major retailers.

"No longer is Lord Sugar sitting on the opposite side of the table," Pellereau gushed after his win. "We're now on the same piece of paper. I just can't wait to open for business."

Eastwood was the first person axed in tonight's Apprentice final after his e-learning employability service to UK schools was deemed to be at odds with Sugar's desire to start a highly-profitable business.

21-year-old Ma was fired over her "naive" financial projections for her proposed range of natural skincare products, but was described by Sugar as a proven entrepreneur capable of achieving great things.

[Perdita]

Lord Sugar has revealed that he will be remaining in contact with Apprentice finalist Susan Ma.

Sugar said that he was intrigued by Ma's cosmetic company plans, which she revealed in the final, and claimed that there was a possibility she could be reunited with the show's winner Tom Pellereau.

Pellereau won the £250,000 investment from Sugar, which the pair are expected to use in a curved nail file business.

"Susan, do you know what, I always wanted to be in the cosmetics industry and Susan's definitely got something about her," he said.

"All I can say is, I would like to keep in close contact there, because there may be some synergy there between the nail file. There could be a deal to be done."

Sugar also offered to praise to finalist Jim Eastwood, describing him as a great salesman.

"When it comes to salesmanship and his way with people, Jim may want to tackle the Irish debt," he joked.

"He might be able to sort it. If anyone ever needs a sales person, he is the man."

[Trinity]

Helen's business plan was such a let down - no USP at all. I personally know two people who offer a similar service locally, and I cannot see a concierge business working on a national level. TBH, the idea of a franchise might have had legs if she already had a well known and successful brand in London - but she doesn't and she had no contacts at all. Around here house sitting, dog walking and waiting in for a tescos shopping doesn't make big bucks.

Jim, nice idea but not a business.

Susan, she was nearly there, she really was and to be honest I would say she is the one to watch.

Tom, ideas man, just what you need to start a business - but he needs a Helen to run it. Together they would be an unstoppable team, I think.

I don't know how this will all work out long term, but if LS is really going to add Susan to the mix it will be very interesting to see what happens.

[Siobhan]

Trinity.. it was the nail file idea and follow ups that clinched this for Tom.... The chair was terrible but Lord Sugar would have known about his previous ideas from his CV and to have it in Boots and Walmart, he was laughing.. it turned into a Dragon's den towards the end.. Susan has her own business but making a million in the 1st year was totally unrealistic... Jim's idea was brilliant but as you said, not a business and Helen let herself down..
Glad Tom won in the end.. one up for the Geeks!! they are the ones who generally come up with the ideas but don't see the profits from it...

[parkerman]

Yes, I agree with both of you. Helen let herself down really badly with her business plan, though, as it happens, she was probably not quite the type of person Lord Sugar was looking for in this new format.

I thought for a while that Susan might actually win it. Although her figures were unrealistic her business plan was much more of a business plan of the type required than the other three. I have not really liked Susan throughout the series, but I have to say I thought she came across much better in the final and there is a lot of potential there. It will be interesting to see what happens if Lord Sugar does rope her in to the new business...

Now then, Jim, without using any cliches sum yourself up.....

[LostVoodoo]

it's been a great series this year, but felt like in the final all the work of the 12 episodes didn't matter. poor Helen will be wondering what she put all that work in for.